The Boston University Multipurpose Arthritis and Musculo-Skeletal Disease Center provides a unique environment for studies of amyloidosis, a connective tissue disease with important implications for the immune system and the aging process. The Amyloid Core Unit represents a national resource in amyloid disease studies which has been and will continue to be readily available to investigators for all amyloid research located in this Center, in the Boston University School of Medicine, throughout the country and throughout the world. The purpose of the Amyloid Core Unit is to provide centralized facilities in a number of research areas that are used by multiple funded investigators within the Center and that support multidisciplined investigations by a growing number of collaborators. It seeks specifically to support essential equipment, personnel and supply resources which are shared to facilitate optimal use within the Center. The Core Unit consists of five support sections. These include: 1) the Biochemistry/Molecular Genetics Section; 2) the Experimental Pathology and Biophysics Section; 3) the Tissue Culture/Hybridoma Section; 4) the Protease Section; and 5) the Amyloid Therapeutics and Clinical Research Section.